Trick or Treat
by Lotus Butterfly
Summary: All Hallows Eve is the one night of the year when the barrier between worlds is at its weakest. Sometimes the things that come out are more familiar than we'd expect. Short oneshot for Halloween. Dante and Nero, no slash, mentions of Trish and Lady. Rated...T? Sure. Rated T for language. And I'm sorry the title sucks.


**A/N:** Happy Halloween everybody! I bet you thought you'd never hear from me again. Well, here I am, cocked and ready to crush all of your hopes once again. No, but seriously, I had this idea randomly while I was on the bus heading to work this morning. I'm sorry its so short and kind of lame, but eh, what can you do? What comes out is what comes out. Besides, I'm saving my awesome for the new chapter of **Over and Over **I'm working on. If you want details on that, you can check out my dA page where I posted a journal about it (you can find a link to there on my profile).

As for this rough little oneshot, I apologize for any spelling errors. My new laptop doesn't have Microsoft Office on it yet so I had to make due with WordPad and self editing. Makes me realize how much I rely on those stupid squiggly lines to point out my problem areas xD

**Disclaimer:** Devil May Cry and its characters belong to Capcom. I also do not own any of the movies or their characters that were mentioned here. But I do highly recommend that you sit and watch every single one of them if you haven't! And make sure they're the originals! Great Halloween fodder, trust me. I'm an expert on these things.

I hope you all have a fun Halloween and stay safe! Enjoy!

* * *

What did he just watch?

"So, what did you think of that one, kid?" Dante asked as he reclined back in the couch, a pleased expression stamped on his face.

Nero finally tore his eyes from the credits scrolling across the tv screen he'd been forced to sit in front of nearly all day; trying to form a response that would encompass the myriad of thoughts coursing through him.

"...it was terrible."

"What?" Dante shot upright, "No way, Pumpkinhead is a classic." He defended.

"It's a bad movie." Nero repeated. "I don't even know why you made me watch it. Or any of the others." Especially today, being All Hallows Eve. Dante had told him when he first came to stay here that it was the one night of the year when the barrier between the two worlds was the thinnest and demons came crawling out of every nook and cranny to wreak havoc upon humanity. Particularly in Capulet City. Dante guessed it had something to do with the temen-ni-gru still standing in ruins among the bustling streets and tall skyscrapers.

Nero had been dreading the upcoming holiday ever since, but Dante appeared pumped.

"Because they're all great movies." the older hunter insisted. "And they were like research, to get you ready for tonight." it was going to be a busy one after all. Lady and Trish had come over the day before and the four had split the city into sections. Hopefully, they could keep the 'monster mash' as Dante joyfully dubbed it, contained somewhat. What only made it more difficult were the people who were going out dressed up and getting drunk. They would be roaming the streets after dark, mistaking demons for costumes and cheap scares and generally getting in the way.

He had to roll his eyes at the older man's words. Nero couldn't tell if Dante was serious or messing with him again. How any of those movies could qualify as 'research' for a devil hunter was beyond him.

Then again...maybe it wasn't so much of a stretch. As he sat back and thought about all the movies Dante had made him sit through today, Nero could see a common theme among them._ Hellraiser_, _The Exorcist_, _The Omen_, _The Evil Dead_, _Event Horizon_, and the 'grand finale' _Pumpkinhead_ they just finished all revolved around the same elements: Hell's evils and the perils of human interference.

"Still," Nero rallied, "I don't see how those movies could prepare anyone for anything."

Dante remained steadfastly defensive of his films. "Hey, Pumpkinhead is practically a documentary. We aren't going up against our typical fare tonight. If you aren't on your game and ready for anything, you'll be screwed and I won't be nearby to save your ass."

It was still surprising that Dante was so concerned over his safety with the big job they had ahead of them, but Nero couldn't help but feel like a child being warned away from common dangers like he didn't know any better.

"Worry about your own ass, old man. I'll be fine." he said confidently.

-o-o-o-

The night had only just begun and already it was a nightmare.

Nero had remained cocky about being able to handle himself tonight, thinking he was ready for anything even without Dante's terrible movies polluting his brain. Not long after they finished that final movie, the calls had started pouring in and rather than answer any specifically, Dante collected his weapons and Nero did the same. Together they'd set out to meet up with Trish and Lady near the crumbling demonic tower. From there, they were each to go in four different directions to their assigned areas. The goal was to keep as many demons from leeching out into the city to do any serious damage and make sure no humans got caught up in the middle of it all.

Already things were getting heated up. On their way to temen-ni-gru, Dante and Nero had been forced to detour and take out some lower level devils that were terrorizing some of the younger Halloween crowd. It didn't take long to wipe them out, but it was only a taste of things to come.

Once they reached the tower, all four hunters went over their plan once more before Trish and Lady set off to deal with their own hunts. Leaving Dante to ask Nero that irritating question again.

"Sure you got this, kid?"

"Yes! Now get out of here before-" Nero meant to finish the threat with, 'before I shoot you', but didn't get the chance as the ground rumbled. It was enough to set them off balance briefly before an ominous crack brought both hunters' eyes up to the tower; just in time to see one of the windows and part of the wall surrounding it explode outwards and demons rained down to the street below. Several broke off and began flying or floating through the air, others landed roughly and had to collect themselves before they began racing off into the darkening night as they cackled with glee.

Nero supposed that was their cue, but he found himself unable to reach for his sword, eyes locking onto one devil he'd never seen before. At least, not in person.

No...no way that was...but it looked just like...

"Pumpkinhead?" Nero said, stumbling over the word in his shock.

The creature stood on two legs, reaching about seven or eight feet tall. Its body was almost humanoid, a long, thick tail swishing out behind it. Its ribs were visible through its grayish-green skin and boney protrusions stood up from the tops of its shoulders like armor. Its arms were corded with muscle and ended in large hands tipped with dagger-like claws. Its head appeared almost alien in shape, its nose little more than slits above its wide mouth. The eyes were almond shaped and their glossy white color and lack of pupils were akin to a zombie's. But nothing could hide the animal cunning in its gaze as it spotted the hunters.

Nero looked over at Dante, still stunned. The older man just shrugged at his dumbfounded look.

"Told you that movie was like a documentay, kid. Demons of vengence do exist."

Now those movies that seemed so ridiculous at the time sounded like they were a good idea after all. "So do I have to find and kill the person who summoned it, like in the movie?" he asked, daunted by the thought.

"Nah, just keep it and the rest occupied until sun-up." Dante replied as he began to backpedal away, sending Nero a careless two-fingered salute. "These guys can only walk among us until then. Good luck!"

"But dawn isn't for hours!" Nero shouted, turning to him but Dante was already tearing off down the street, Rebellion at the ready as he chased down the smaller demons that were heading that way.

"Happy Halloween, kid!"


End file.
